North Texas Market Insider™ · New Jersey Relocation
Why New Jersey Money is Flowing to North Texas
New Jersey pays the highest effective property taxes in the United States. Not among the highest. The highest. And it pairs that with a top marginal income tax rate above 10 percent.
Texas beats both. The effective property tax rate here averages around 1.36 percent against New Jersey's 2.23 percent in the 2023 Tax Foundation study, and there is no state income tax at all. You and Illinois are the only two origin states on this site where I get to say that, and New Jersey's margin is the wider of the two.
Then there is the equity. A seller in Short Hills, Ridgewood, or Summit frequently buys into Southlake or Flower Mound in a similar or lower band, into a house thirty to sixty years newer, on a lot that would be unthinkable within reach of the New York metro. The most densely populated state in the country does not do lot size, and for a lot of families that is the real frustration rather than the price.
What you give up is not money. It is NJ Transit, walkable town centres, and being ninety minutes from Manhattan. Those are genuine and no spreadsheet captures them. And plan for the withholding at closing, because New Jersey holds back the greater of 8.97 percent of your gain or 2 percent of the sale price on the way out.
2.23% → ~1.36%
Effective property tax, New Jersey to Texas
10.75%
New Jersey top marginal income tax rate, eliminated
8.97% / 2%
Withheld at closing, whichever is greater
Property tax effective rates vary by municipality and by data vintage. The New Jersey non-resident seller withholding is an estimated payment reconciled on a New Jersey return, not a separate tax. Consult a CPA regarding your specific situation. General information, not advice.
North Texas Market Insider™ · Area Matcher
Find Your North Texas Landing Zone
Three questions, about twenty seconds. Tell me which part of New Jersey you're leaving and I'll start you with the priorities most families from there name first. Change any of them, then set your budget, and I'll show you the areas worth a real look.
123✓
Where in New Jersey are you coming from?
I'll use this to suggest a starting point on the next step. You can change every one of them.
What actually matters most? Pick up to three.
0 of 3 selected. Tap to add or remove.
What's your home budget?
Purchase price, not monthly payment.
Your closest matches
Results are ranked only on the priorities and budget you selected, all of which you control. Every community listed is open to all buyers. Price ranges are general estimates and change with the market. See the full disclosure at the bottom of this page.
New Jersey → North Texas
Where New Jersey families are landing.
New Jersey buyers arrive with the highest property tax bills in the country and, usually, serious equity. The map below is organised around what that equity actually buys and which communities read as peers to the one you are leaving. Tap what matters to you and the rest will drop away.
Tell me which New Jersey town you're leaving and what you liked about it, and I can usually narrow this list down to two or three specific North Texas areas that genuinely match.
Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® · Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team · northtexasmarketinsider.com
North Texas Market Insider™ · Reality Check
What New Jersey Didn't Prepare You For
Twelve things that catch New Jersey families off guard, starting with two pieces of genuinely good news and one piece of cash you will not see at closing. Four of them carry a real number. Tick the ones that apply and build your own first-year figure, then open any card for the detail underneath it.
Showing all twelve
Your estimated first-year carrying cost$0
Tick the boxes on the three cost cards below to build your number.
01Costs money
Your Property Tax Bill Goes Down
2.23% → ~1.36% effective rate, New Jersey to Texas
New Jersey carries the highest effective property taxes in the United States. Texas averages around 1.36 percent. You and Illinois are the only origin states on my site where Texas wins this line rather than losing it, and for New Jersey the gap is the widest of any state I work with.
How to make sure you actually capture it
File the homestead exemption at closing. The Texas school district exemption rose to $140,000 for tax year 2025 after voters approved Proposition 13, and homeowners over 65 or disabled reach $200,000.
Filing starts the 10 percent cap. Annual growth in a homestead's appraised value is limited to 10 percent plus new improvements under Tax Code 23.23, but the cap only begins January 1 following the year you first qualify. Protest your first uncapped year, because it sets the base.
Watch the MUD. A Municipal Utility District on new construction can close a meaningful part of your advantage. Ask for the total tax rate rather than a builder's monthly estimate.
02Costs money
New Jersey Withholds Cash When You Sell
8.97% or 2% of gain or sale price, whichever is greater
The so-called exit tax is not a separate tax, and anyone who tells you it is has not read the rule. It is a mandatory withholding at closing when a non-resident sells New Jersey property: the greater of 8.97 percent of the gain or 2 percent of the total sale price, treated as an estimated payment.
Why it still matters to your cash position
It is reconciled on your New Jersey return and frequently refunded in part. That is the good news. The bad news is timing: on an $800,000 sale, 2 percent is $16,000 held back at exactly the moment you are trying to fund a purchase in another state.
Plan the cash rather than being surprised at the table. If your Texas purchase depends on full proceeds from the New Jersey sale, model the withholding into your timeline and your down payment before you write an offer here.
The federal exclusion is separate and still applies: $250,000 of gain single, $500,000 married filing jointly, with the two-of-five-year test. Talk to your CPA before the listing goes live.
03Costs money
The Income Tax Disappears Entirely
10.75% New Jersey top marginal rate
New Jersey's graduated income tax reaches a top marginal rate of 10.75 percent, among the highest in the country. Texas charges nothing on wage or business income. For high earners this is frequently a larger annual number than the property tax difference.
Where it does and does not help
For wage earners and business owners the effect is immediate and shows up in every paycheque and every distribution rather than annually at filing.
Retirees should check their own position carefully. New Jersey excludes a substantial amount of retirement income for qualifying taxpayers under its pension and retirement income exclusion, so depending on your income level the practical saving may be smaller than the headline rate suggests. Run it with a CPA rather than assuming.
New Jersey also has an inheritance tax with rates depending on the class of heir. Texas has neither an inheritance nor an estate tax, which for some families is a larger figure than the annual income tax difference.
04Daily life
NJ Transit and PATH Have No Equivalent
2 lines of real rail, versus a whole network
New Jersey has genuine rail infrastructure and a culture built around it. DART exists and is useful along its corridors, including the Silver Line to DFW Airport and the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth, but it is a commuter system rather than a dense network.
What actually changes
If you currently commute by rail into Manhattan, that pattern does not exist here. DFW is a driving metro with rail attached rather than a rail metro with driving attached.
Where a one-car household works: Uptown, Deep Ellum, and the neighbourhoods along the rail spine. Anywhere else, plan on two cars.
The compensations are real. No monthly rail pass, no parking at the station, and a bad Texas commute is forty minutes rather than a delayed train and a bus bridge.
05Daily life
Tolls Are Familiar, the Tag Is Not
TollTag and E-ZPass does not transfer
The Turnpike and the Parkway mean you already understand living with tolls, so the concept is not new. DFW runs the Dallas North Tollway, the President George Bush Turnpike, and the Sam Rayburn Tollway, plus dynamically priced express lanes.
The one practical thing to do first
Get a TollTag in your first week. E-ZPass does not work in Texas, and driving untagged means pay-by-mail rates that run meaningfully higher.
Dynamic pricing rises with congestion on express lanes, which means the worst time to use them is exactly when you most want to.
One genuinely nice difference: you can pump your own gas here, and after the first few times you will stop finding it strange.
06Costs money
Insurance Goes Up and the Deductible Is a Percentage
1–2% hail deductible, as a share of dwelling coverage
New Jersey has nor'easters and coastal exposure, but North Texas hail is a different category and it is the primary reason homeowners premiums run higher here. The structure catches people more than the price.
What to check before you buy
Wind and hail deductibles here are a percentage of dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. On a $500,000 home that is five to ten thousand out of pocket before the policy pays on a hail claim.
Roof age drives insurability. As roofs age, carriers may shift from replacement cost to actual cash value, which pays depreciated value rather than replacement. Ask the roof's age and last hail claim before you write an offer, and get a quote during the option period.
Budget it as a known line item. It offsets part of your property tax saving, and you should see both numbers side by side before you decide.
07Costs money
MUDs and PIDs Can Erase Your Advantage
$1,500–$4,200 a year, for 20–30 years
This is the specific risk for New Jersey buyers, because you came here for a lower property tax rate. Municipal Utility Districts and Public Improvement Districts issue bonds for water, sewer, drainage, and streetscape in newer developments, repaid through your tax bill for twenty to thirty years.
How to spot one before you sign
Ask for the total tax rate, not the monthly payment. A builder quoting a payment may be using the current rate on unimproved land. Two homes at the same price in adjacent neighbourhoods can differ by hundreds a month on this line alone.
A MUD can close a good part of the gap you moved for. That does not make the home a bad buy, but it changes the arithmetic and you should see the real number before the option period ends.
Most online mortgage calculators miss it entirely. Add MUD and PID status to your offer checklist alongside roof age and an insurance quote.
08Culture
The Diner Is Not a Thing Here
24 hours and it does not exist in Texas
New Jersey diner culture, pork roll, the pizza, the bagels, and the specific expectation that you can get a full meal at two in the morning. None of that survives the move. Texas food culture is serious and good, but it is barbecue and Tex-Mex.
What actually helps
The pizza and bagel complaints are legitimate and you will make them for about a year. Then you will find your places, stop comparing, and start defending brisket to people from other states.
What genuinely replaces it: Central Texas barbecue over post oak with real regional variation and an argument attached, plus Tex-Mex as its own cuisine rather than a substitute for anything.
The sports transition is easier than the food one. DFW carries all four leagues, and nobody minds a Giants or Devils allegiance as long as you show up on Friday nights in the fall.
09Daily life
Space and Permitting Both Get Easier
#1 → #26 population density rank, New Jersey to Texas
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country and it shows in lot sizes, setbacks, and how long it takes to get anything approved. Adding a detached garage, a shop, RV storage, or a pool is a considerably simpler process in most North Texas jurisdictions.
What that changes practically
Housing stock is decades newer. New Jersey suburban inventory skews mid-century and earlier. A comparable Texas house is frequently thirty to sixty years newer with modern layouts, insulation, and systems.
Lot sizes are the visible difference. What reads as a large lot in Bergen County is a standard lot in much of Collin or Ellis County.
What you give up is the town centre. New Jersey does walkable downtowns extremely well, and outside a handful of DFW neighbourhoods that texture simply does not exist. That is a genuine loss.
10Weather
You Trade Winter for a Five-Month Summer
Nor'easters → heat and both are real
New Jersey winters mean snow, ice, nor'easters, and shovelling. North Texas winters run in the 40s to 60s with occasional hard freezes and two to four ice events a year. What you take on is June through September at 90 to 100 degrees with humidity.
The adaptation arc
First summer is a shock, second is manageable, and by the third you have a routine. Earlier workouts, later dog walks, and mid-day treated as indoor season.
What makes it workable: central air is universal and built in rather than an add-on, community pools are standard in master-planned neighbourhoods, and covered patios are normal design.
What you genuinely lose is autumn. New Jersey does October extremely well and Texas does not match it. That is a small, real concession worth naming.
11Costs money
The Homestead Exemption Has a Hard Deadline
April 30 file or lose the year
Applications are accepted January 1 through April 30 of the tax year. Miss it and you forfeit that year's savings, though Texas allows a late filing for up to two years after the delinquency date with a penalty attached.
The order nobody explains
Your Texas driver's licence address must match the property. Appraisal districts reject applications where it does not, so the chain matters: register the vehicle first, then get the licence at the property address, then file the exemption.
This is what starts your 10 percent appraisal cap. You came here largely for the lower property tax rate, so the paperwork that protects it should not wait.
It also helps establish Texas residency, which matters if New Jersey questions your departure date on a return year.
12Daily life
Your Paperwork Clock Starts the Day You Arrive
30 / 90 days, and they are different clocks
Thirty days to register your vehicle with the county tax office. Ninety days to get a Texas driver's licence from DPS. Most people assume it is one deadline handled in one trip. It is not.
Do these in the right order
Register the vehicle before you go to DPS. The licence application asks for proof of Texas registration, so the county tax office is your first stop.
Texas dropped the annual safety inspection for most non-commercial vehicles in January 2025, but emissions testing is still required in the most populous counties, which includes all of DFW.
Do it early rather than late. Licence, registration, and voter registration are the standard evidence of where you actually live, which matters in the year you file a part-year New Jersey return.
Nothing matches that filter. Try another one.
Figures are general estimates and vary by property, municipality, and provider. New Jersey property tax effective rates vary by municipality and by data vintage. The New Jersey non-resident seller withholding is an estimated payment reconciled on a New Jersey return, not a separate tax; consult a CPA regarding your specific situation. General information, not legal or tax advice.
North Texas Market Insider™ · Climate & Cost Ledger
New Jersey vs North Texas, Honestly
New Jersey pays the highest effective property taxes in the country and a top income tax rate above 10 percent. Texas beats both, which makes this the widest financial gap on my site and means the real question is lifestyle. Three of these eight rows go against Texas, including transit, and they are marked as such. Tap any row for the detail underneath it.
North Texas winsNew Jersey wins
Property taxNew Jersey2.23% effective, highest in the nationvsNorth Texas~1.36% effectiveNorth Texas
STATE
The highest effective property tax burden in the United States, and it applies whether you are working or retired.
North Texas
Lower, with a $140,000 school district homestead exemption as of 2025 and a 10 percent annual cap on appraisal growth.
The widest gap of any state I work with
You and Illinois are the only origin states where Texas wins this row, and New Jersey's margin is the largest. That changes the entire shape of the argument, because you are not trading property tax for income tax. You are reducing both.
Protect it with paperwork and diligence. File the homestead exemption at closing, protest your first uncapped year, and check for a MUD on any new construction, because a utility district can close a meaningful part of the gap.
Income taxNew JerseyUp to 10.75%vsNorth TexasNoneNorth Texas
STATE
Among the highest top marginal rates in the country, applied to wage and business income.
North Texas
No state income tax on wages or business profit, and no inheritance or estate tax.
Check the retiree exclusion first
For wage earners and business owners the effect is immediate and shows up in every paycheque rather than annually at filing.
Retirees should verify their own position. New Jersey excludes a substantial amount of retirement income for qualifying taxpayers, so the practical saving may be smaller than 10.75 percent suggests. Run it with a CPA.
The inheritance tax is the underrated line. New Jersey taxes by class of heir; Texas has no inheritance or estate tax at all, which for some families is a larger figure than the annual difference.
TransitNew JerseyNJ Transit, PATH, and a rail culturevsNorth TexasDART, and it is not the sameNew Jersey
STATE
Genuine rail infrastructure, a commute pattern built around it, and the ability to reach Manhattan without driving.
North Texas
Real rail along commuter corridors including the Silver Line and TRE, but a driving metro with rail attached rather than the reverse.
The honest concession
New Jersey wins this row outright. If a train commute is central to how you live, DFW will disappoint you outside a handful of neighbourhoods.
Where it works: Uptown, Deep Ellum, and the neighbourhoods along the rail spine support a one-car household. Everywhere else, plan on two.
The compensation is time and cost. No monthly pass, no station parking, and a bad commute here is forty minutes rather than a delayed train and a bus bridge.
Space and permittingNew JerseyMost densely populated statevsNorth TexasRoom, and a shorter approvalNorth Texas
STATE
Small lots, old housing stock, tight setbacks, and permitting friction on almost any improvement.
North Texas
Larger lots at every price point, housing stock decades newer, and considerably less friction on a garage, shop, or pool.
The part people feel in month one
Housing age is the visible difference. New Jersey suburban inventory skews mid-century and earlier; a comparable Texas home is frequently thirty to sixty years newer with modern layouts and systems.
What you give up is the town centre. New Jersey does walkable downtowns extremely well and outside a few DFW neighbourhoods that texture does not exist here.
WinterNew JerseySnow, ice, and nor'eastersvsNorth Texas40s to 60s, with cold snapsNorth Texas
STATE
Shovelling, black ice, coastal storms, and a season you plan around.
North Texas
Occasional hard freezes and two to four ice events a year. Snow is a novelty.
But take the freeze seriously
Infrastructure here is built for heat, not extended cold. A two-day ice event shuts the region down in a way that would embarrass New Jersey, and you will be better prepared than your neighbours.
Know where your water shutoff is before your first February. Burst pipes during a freeze are the most common first-winter problem for Northeast transplants.
Summer and autumnNew JerseyA real autumn, and a short summervsNorth TexasFive months of heat, no real autumnNew Jersey
STATE
New Jersey does October extremely well, and summer is measured in weeks rather than months.
North Texas
June through September at 90 to 100 with humidity, and shoulder seasons that are longer but less crisp.
The adaptation arc
First summer is a shock, second is manageable, by the third you have a routine. Earlier workouts, later dog walks, mid-day treated as indoor season.
Autumn is the genuine loss. It is small compared with the tax difference, but it is real and worth naming rather than glossing.
Severe weatherNew JerseyNor'easters and coastal floodingvsNorth TexasHail, wind, and spring tornado seasonNew Jersey
STATE
Real but familiar, and hail damage on the scale North Texas sees is not part of the picture.
North Texas
More frequent severe storms in April and May, with percentage-based hail deductibles rather than flat dollar amounts.
The deductible structure is the new part
Wind and hail deductibles here are a percentage of dwelling coverage. On a $500,000 home that is five to ten thousand out of pocket before the policy pays.
Budget the higher premium as a known line item, because it offsets part of your property tax saving and you should see both numbers together.
The overall tradeNew JerseyHighest taxes, best transit, closest to New YorkvsNorth TexasLower on both taxes, car-dependent, hotNorth Texas
STATE
The highest property taxes in the country and a top income tax rate above 10 percent, paired with genuine rail and ninety minutes to Manhattan.
North Texas
Both tax lines fall, space and permitting get easier, and you take on heat, hail, and a driving metro.
Stated plainly
This is the widest tax gap on my site. New Jersey is the only origin state where Texas beats the property tax rate by a full point and eliminates a double-digit income tax at the same time.
What you give up is transit, town centres, and New York. Being ninety minutes from Manhattan has value that does not appear on a spreadsheet, and I would rather say so than pretend two airports replace it.
Run the exit tax into your cash plan. The withholding at closing is refundable in part but it is not available to you at the moment you need it.
General information rather than advice. Property tax effective rates vary by municipality and by data vintage; the Tax Foundation's newer ACS-based table reports different figures than its 2023 county study. New Jersey retirement income exclusions and inheritance tax treatment depend on individual circumstances. Consult a qualified tax professional.
North Texas Market Insider™ · Schools
Four Ways New Jersey Families Choose a District
This is the hardest school conversation I have with anyone. New Jersey ranks near the very top of the country for public education and Texas ranks in the mid-thirties. I am not going to pretend that gap is not real. What I can tell you is that a handful of North Texas districts genuinely compete at your level, and that per-pupil spending here is lower, which you should know going in. These are the four patterns I see.
Each bar is drawn on the same $0 to $2.6M scale, so the widths are directly comparable across all four tiers.
The only Texas districts I would put in front of a Millburn, Ridgewood, Princeton, or Tenafly family without heavy qualification. Deeply resourced, high parent involvement, and strong programme depth across academics and activities.
What you're actually getting
Be honest about the comparison and visit before you decide. These districts are genuinely strong and compete nationally, but per-pupil spending in Texas runs well below the national average and considerably below New Jersey's. Whether that shows up in the specific programme your student needs is a question worth asking on a campus tour, not on a ratings site.
The financial context matters. You are buying into a top district at an effective property tax rate below New Jersey's, with no state income tax on top. That combination does not exist in the Northeast.
Best for families leaving a peer district who will not accept a downgrade and have the budget to avoid one.
Tier 2Strong and newer
$400K–$700K
"Strong Schools, Newer Everything"
Frisco ISD · Prosper ISD · Allen ISD · Plano ISD · Wylie ISD
Large districts with multiple high schools and serious programme depth, in neighbourhoods built decades later than anything in your current market.
What you're actually getting
Scale gives you breadth. Multiple high schools per district means more AP and dual-credit options, more career pathways, more athletics and arts. Coming from a small New Jersey district, the range will be wider even if the per-student resourcing is lower.
The housing age difference is the visible one. A comparable house here is frequently thirty to sixty years newer than New Jersey suburban stock, with modern layouts and systems.
Best for families who want strong schools without stretching into the top tier, and who are as motivated by the house as by the district.
Tier 3Space and value
$280K–$475K
"Space, Land and Breathing Room"
Midlothian ISD · Waxahachie ISD · Red Oak ISD · Melissa ISD · Forney ISD
Growing districts south and east of Dallas where the same money buys meaningfully more house and often actual land. For a family from the most densely populated state in the country, this is the tier that feels least like anything back home.
What you're actually getting
This is where the tax and density arguments compound. You are leaving the highest effective property tax burden in the country for a corridor where both the rate and the price are lower, on lots that would be unthinkable within reach of the New York metro.
These districts are growing fast, which cuts both ways. New campuses are being built and attendance boundaries get redrawn as they open. Ask which campus a home feeds to and whether a rezoning is on the calendar.
Best for families prioritising land and monthly breathing room over a district name. This is my home corridor, so I will tell you plainly: the growth here is real and it is early.
Tier 4Urban & magnet
$300K–$900K+
"City Life Without the Gold Coast Price"
Dallas ISD magnet programmes · Uptown · Bishop Arts · Deep Ellum · Oak Lawn
For households leaving Hoboken, Jersey City, or Downtown Newark who want density and are not going to be talked into a subdivision.
What you're actually getting
Dallas ISD's magnet system is the piece to understand. Several DISD magnets rank among the strongest public high schools in Texas, and admission is application-based rather than address-based, which will feel familiar if you navigated New Jersey's county vocational and magnet programmes.
The housing math is the draw. Uptown and the intown neighbourhoods deliver walkability at a fraction of Gold Coast pricing, and the property tax rate is lower than Hudson County's.
Best for singles, couples, and empty-nesters who want the city and are willing to work an application system rather than buy into a boundary.
School district information is provided as general information only and reflects the districts New Jersey families most frequently ask about. Attendance boundaries, program offerings, campus assignments, and performance data change and vary by campus. Verify all school information directly with the district before making any purchase decision. Home price ranges are general estimates and vary by neighborhood, campus, and market conditions. As a REALTOR® I comply fully with the Fair Housing Act and cannot and will not direct buyers toward or away from any community based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® — North Texas Market Insider | Serving Ellis County, the I-35E Corridor, and the DFW Metroplex Last updated: July. Continue reading
Dallas just claimed the #2 spot nationally for apartment construction with 28,958 units under...
Market Snapshot · Live NTREIS Data
What the DFW Market Is Actually Doing
In New Jersey, what a home sold for is recorded and public, right down to the realty transfer fee on the deed. In Texas it is not. Sales price information provided to appraisal districts is confidential under Tax Code 22.27, which means every national site you have been browsing is estimating closed prices here rather than reporting them. These four charts come from NTREIS, the MLS, where the confirmed numbers actually live.
Median Sales Price
What Your Equity Actually Buys
The middle point of all closed sales, so one luxury outlier cannot skew it. This is the number to hold your New Jersey sale price against. Compare it to your own median, not to your neighbourhood's best comp. For most North Jersey sellers this gap is the largest single financial event of the move.
Chart: Median sales price across the DFW market, tracked monthly. Source: NTREIS MLS.
Closed Sales
How Much Is Actually Trading
Completed transactions where financing cleared and the home changed hands. Read it against price, never alone. Rising prices with rising volume is genuine demand. Rising prices with falling volume means sellers are holding a number that fewer buyers will accept, and that is precisely when concessions start showing up in contracts.
Chart: Closed sales volume across the DFW market, tracked monthly. Source: NTREIS MLS.
Percent Of Original List Price
How Far Sellers Actually Move
What homes closed for measured against their original ask, before any price reductions. Near 100 percent means sellers are holding firm. Below it, that gap is your negotiating room. This is the single most useful number to carry into an offer, and out-of-state buyers almost never ask for it.
Chart: Percent of original list price received across the DFW market, tracked monthly. Source: NTREIS MLS.
Showings To Pending
How Hard Sellers Are Working
How many showings it takes to produce one home going under contract. This is the earliest honest signal on the page. A low number means homes are selling on the first weekend and you will be competing. A climbing number means sellers are opening the door again and again before anyone writes, and that is buyer leverage arriving weeks before it ever reaches an asking price.
Chart: Showings required per pending sale across the DFW market, tracked monthly. Source: NTREIS MLS.
All four charts update automatically from NTREIS as new sales close. Want these numbers filtered to the specific submarkets you are considering, with your New Jersey sale price run against them? Call 214-228-0003.
Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® · Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team · northtexasmarketinsider.com
North Texas Market Insider™ · New Jersey Relocation
What New Jerseyans Want To Know About Texas
Ten answers on the questions that come up on every New Jersey relocation call, including the exit tax, which is real but not what most people think it is.
Do my property taxes actually go down?
Yes, and by more than for any other state I work with. New Jersey averaged 2.23 percent effective property tax in the 2023 Tax Foundation study, the highest in the nation. Texas averages around 1.36 percent.
You and Illinois are the only origin states where Texas wins the property tax line as well as the income tax line. Verify against your actual municipal bill and a specific Texas property, because rates vary enormously in both states, and watch for a MUD on new construction that can close part of the gap.
What is the New Jersey exit tax and will it cost me?
It is not a separate tax, despite the name, and anyone who describes it as one has not read the rule. It is a mandatory withholding at closing when a non-resident sells New Jersey property: the greater of 8.97 percent of the gain or 2 percent of the total sale price.
It is treated as an estimated payment, reconciled on your New Jersey return, and frequently refunded in part. The real issue is timing and cash flow. On an $800,000 sale, 2 percent is $16,000 held back at exactly the moment you are trying to fund a purchase in Texas. Model it into your down payment plan rather than discovering it at the closing table.
How much does eliminating the income tax save me?
It depends on your bracket, but New Jersey's top marginal rate reaches 10.75 percent, among the highest in the country, and Texas charges nothing on wage or business income. For high earners this is frequently a larger annual figure than the property tax difference.
Retirees should check their own position rather than assuming. New Jersey excludes a substantial amount of retirement income for qualifying taxpayers under its pension and retirement income exclusion, so the practical saving may be smaller than the headline rate suggests. New Jersey also has an inheritance tax with rates depending on the class of heir, and Texas has neither an inheritance nor an estate tax.
How far does my equity go?
Further than almost any origin state, particularly from Bergen, Morris, Essex, and Somerset. Sellers in Short Hills, Ridgewood, or Summit frequently buy into Southlake, Westlake, or Flower Mound in a similar or lower price band while cutting both tax lines.
The housing age difference is the part people feel first. New Jersey suburban stock skews mid-century and earlier; a comparable Texas home is often thirty to sixty years newer with modern layouts and systems. South Jersey sellers carry less equity but face a lower entry price here too.
What happens to my commute and transit?
NJ Transit and PATH have no equivalent here. DART rail is real and useful along its corridors, including the Silver Line to DFW Airport and the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth, but it is a commuter system rather than a dense network.
If you currently take a train into Manhattan, that pattern does not exist in DFW. A one-car household is workable in Uptown, Deep Ellum, and along the rail spine. Anywhere else, plan on two. The compensations are real: no monthly rail pass, no station parking, and a bad Texas commute is forty minutes rather than a delayed train and a bus bridge.
Are Texas schools as good as New Jersey's?
Across the board, no. New Jersey ranks near the very top of the country for public education and Texas ranks in the mid-thirties, with per-pupil spending well below the national average. I am not going to pretend that gap is not real.
What Texas has is a handful of districts that genuinely compete: Highland Park, Carroll in Southlake, Coppell, Lovejoy, Grapevine-Colleyville, and the strongest Frisco and Plano campuses. Those are the ones I would put in front of a Millburn or Ridgewood family. Visit before you decide rather than relying on ratings sites, and ask specifically about the programme your student needs.
What are MUDs and should I worry about them?
Yes, specifically because you came here for a lower property tax rate. Municipal Utility Districts and Public Improvement Districts are separate entities that issue bonds for water, sewer, drainage, and streetscape in newer developments, repaid through your tax bill for twenty to thirty years.
They appear mainly on new construction outside city limits and can add well over a percentage point. Ask for the total tax rate rather than a builder's monthly payment estimate, and get it before your option period ends. A MUD does not make a home a bad buy, but it can close a good part of the gap you moved for.
How different is the weather?
You trade a real winter for a five-month summer. New Jersey means snow, ice, nor'easters, and shovelling. North Texas winters run 40s to 60s with occasional hard freezes and two to four ice events a year.
June through September runs 90 to 100 degrees with humidity and outdoor life shifts to mornings and evenings. Most transplants describe the first summer as a shock, the second as manageable, and the third as routine. The genuine concession is autumn: New Jersey does October extremely well and Texas does not match it.
Will the culture be a big adjustment?
The pace and the directness are the two things people mention. New Jersey communication is fast and blunt, and Texas is warmer and slower on the surface while being no less direct once you know people.
Faith is more publicly present in casual conversation than it is in most of New Jersey, and Friday night high school football organises the community calendar from August through November in a way nothing in New Jersey does. The food grief is real: the diner, the pizza, the bagels, and pork roll have no equivalent, and you will spend about a year saying so.
What is the single biggest thing I give up?
Walkable town centres, and proximity to New York. New Jersey does downtowns extremely well, and outside a handful of DFW neighbourhoods that texture does not exist here. If Montclair's or Westfield's town centre is part of why you live where you live, weigh that seriously.
And be honest about New York. Being ninety minutes from Manhattan has value that does not show up on a spreadsheet: the museums, the theatre, the food, seeing family without a flight. DFW has a real cultural scene and two airports with nonstop service, but it is not the same thing and I would rather say so than pretend.
Question that isn't on this list? That's usually the one worth a phone call. Tell me which New Jersey town you're coming from and what you're trying to solve, and I'll give you a straight answer about how it works here.
Bobby Franklin, REALTOR®Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team214-228-0003
North Texas Market Insider™ · Working Together
Your New Jersey-to-Texas Relocation Specialist
I work with New Jersey relocators regularly, and you get a more direct conversation than most because the numbers carry more of it. Your property tax rate goes down, your income tax goes to zero, and your lot gets bigger. I do not have to work hard to sell that.
Where I actually earn my keep is the two things that surprise people. First, the withholding at closing, which is refundable in part but is not in your account when you need it to fund a Texas purchase. Second, a MUD on new construction, which can quietly close a good part of the property tax advantage you moved for. I raise both before we look at houses, not after.
What I provide
The withholding built into your cash plan the greater of 8.97 percent of gain or 2 percent of sale price, modelled into your down payment timeline rather than discovered at the table.
Total tax rate breakdowns including MUD and PID exposure, because that is the one thing that can erase the advantage you came here for.
Actual bill comparisons your current municipal statement against a real Texas property, rather than state averages that hide enormous local variation.
Virtual property tours walked live on video with commentary, for buyers still in New Jersey.
Neighbourhood translation mapped against your town. If you liked Montclair, Ridgewood, or Short Hills, I will tell you where that actually is here.
Transit reality check an honest read on whether a one-car household works where you are looking, because DART is not NJ Transit and I will not pretend it is.
School district guidance campus-level rather than headline ratings, with a candid comparison against a state that outranks Texas nationally.
Post-move support homestead exemption filing by April 30, the 30 and 90 day paperwork clocks, and a TollTag since E-ZPass does not transfer.
Ready to plan your move to Texas?
Market insights · Strategic planning · No pressure
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